On Friday, with the whole gang in tow, we basically did the same route as Thursday with the exception of Red Legs instead of Grippis. And after the pack got separated a bit, some of the group did Sleek Dog and some did Switch again, but we all met back up at Doe/Fawn. We chose to take Fawn, which has more climbing than Doe and puts you on Buck further out resulting in some additional climbing back up to the intersection of Doe and Buck.

top of Hydro

bottom of Hydro

Back at the parking lot, about half the group was ready to call it a day, and the other half of us decided to check out the trails to the SW of the parking area.

Through our observations and discussions with the locals, it didn’t seem like there was much love for Stony Run and beyond. I don’t believe we had seen a single rider go to or come from that side of the parking lot. No one really suggested that side either, and when we inquired, the responses made it out to be a technical no man’s land. Well, we are neither the best riders in the world, nor the brightest, so there was only one thing to do: go see for ourselves.

Stony Run started off fast and flowy much like its sister trails that we had already enjoyed immensely, but eventually we came upon rocky terrain. In fact, compared to the other side, there were lots and lots of rocks, but nothing so technical or grueliing to keep people away. It was actually quite a nice mix.

say, why do they call this one Stony Trail?

With that said, things started to, um, go downhill. First, we had our first crash of the day. KP lost a fight with a large rocky trail impediment and was thrown into a hedge of thorns. The ol’ one-two punch! But he’s a trooper, brushed himself off quickly, and got back in the ring.

stone wall and road bed below Stony Trail

We made our way to the parking area on Seven Points Rd, checked out the map, discussed the pros and cons of dropping into the ominous sounding Dark Hollow and decided we’d come this far — why stop now?

Moments later, a mechanical issue that we couldn’t remedy on the trail stopped our forward progress for the day. Two of us headed back to the main parking area via Stony Trail, picked up the vehicle, and swung around to pick up the other two riders at the Seven Points Rd parking area.

turtle of the apocalypse?

Back at the cabin, the bike was fixed, the wounds were bandaged, beer was swilled, food was eaten, and stuff was burned. A fitting end to a wonderful day. And there was still a whole day of riding left…see you tomorrow Dark Hollow.